Kathryn Carlson is a cello performance major at UCSB in her final year. She is interested in pursuing new music, which she became involved in during her sophomore year of high school after being introduced to it by her music theory teacher Mr. Hertzog (composer for the kung-fu film Bloodsport). She has been a member of the UCSB Ensemble for Contemporary Music (ECM) throughout her time at UCSB and has performed in various other concerts presenting new works including the 2016 UCSB Summer Music Festival and the Beethoven, New Music, and Cupcake Bar concert hosted by the Now Hear Ensemble. In 2016 she was awarded the ECM Distinguished Performance Award and she recently went on to perform in master classes for The Knights and the Juilliard String Quartet. Off the stage, she has interned for the esteemed Ojai Music Festival and works in the box office at the historical Granada Theatre. She hopes to apply to a graduate school soon to continue her studies of contemporary cello performance.